33, 34 and 35A Market Place

A row of multi-phased buildings on Market Place, originally constructed as shops with domestic accommodation above. The earliest fabric likely dates from the 17th or early 18th century, with later building campaigns in the 18th century, early 19th century, and late 20th century.

The buildings are constructed from coursed red brick and flint rubble, with pantile roofs. The historic plan has been substantially altered so that there are no longer any domestic spaces.

Facing the Market Place, number 33 is a single bay wide and three storeys high. It has a post-war shop front from around 1970 with a granite riser and aluminium window frame. At first floor are a pair of horned sash windows, one-over-one. At second floor is a four-over-eight sash window. Both sets of windows have gauged brick arches and concealed sash boxes.

Numbers 34 and 34A have shop fronts dating from after the 1986 subdivision of the property. This part is three bays wide and three storeys high with a pitched roof featuring projecting eaves covered in glazed pantiles. On the right-hand side at ground floor level is Pope's Alley, partially reconstructed in the late 20th century. All window openings have concealed boxes with gauged brick arches. At first floor are eight-over-four sash windows on each side of a blind recess. At second floor are three four-over-eight sash windows without horns.

The north elevation faces the churchyard and has a different roofline from the south side: numbers 33 and 34 share a continuous roof over the second floor, while number 34A drops to the height of the first floor.

Numbers 33 and 34 are three storeys high and two bays wide with a roof covered in unglazed pantiles. A later brick pilaster or buttress separates the two bays. The walls are a patchwork of loosely coursed flint rubble and red brickwork. At ground floor level on the right-hand side is a doorway and a low three-over-three sash window. At first floor is a blocked window, an unglazed louvred opening, and a two-over-two sash window with exposed boxes and no horns. At second floor are two eight-over-eight sash windows with exposed boxes and no horns.

Number 34A is two bays wide and two storeys high, with a pitched roof running from the ridge over the second floor facing the market place. The wall is faced in late 20th-century Fletton brick laid in stretcher bond. There is a multi-light timber framed casement window on the left-hand side and a blocked opening on the right.

Pope's Alley has two small windows on the return elevation from the churchyard and a further small window over the alleyway itself. The brickwork above the alley, facing north, is a patchwork of several phases from at least the 18th century through to the late 20th century. Within the alleyway, the wall of number 34A has been rebuilt in breeze blocks.

Interior

All three addresses have shop units on the ground floor with ancillary spaces above. Almost all of these areas have shop fittings or surfaces which may cover historic features. In 34 and 34A the historic stairs have been replaced in the second half of the 20th century.

The second storey is the least altered. Most of this floor forms part of number 33 and is accessed via a late 18th- or early 19th-century staircase with a ramped handrail that has lost its banisters. The walls are covered in reed and plaster, with some areas of lath and plaster. An internal window has been used to borrow light for the stairwell. A good deal of historic joinery survives, including two-panel doors, one reeded plank-and-batten door, and a small fitted cupboard. King post roof trusses survive over the highest points of the building. The floorboards are a mixture of wide oak boards and narrower 19th-century pine boards. A small amount of dado panelling survives at this level.

Number 33 is the only part with an accessible cellar, probably of 18th-century construction. It has been structurally strengthened in the 20th century with the addition of brick piers and steel joists. The cellar continues underneath the Market Place with a barrel-vaulted cell. Parts of the cellar have pamment floors.